August 2, 2005
Week 14 - Impossible Dreams 2
Episode 2
Powell conducts an interview at the modest Long Island home of Lloyd Pasternak.
"I've lived in this neighborhood for fifty four years," Mr. Pasternak says, "and it was the craziest thing I've ever seen!"
"Would you like a cup of coffee, dear?" Mrs. Pasternak asks Powell from the attached kitchen.
"Uh, thank you, sure..." Powell says.
"Those boys from the electric company were fiddling with the wires outside the house," Mr. Pasternak continues. "I was working on my lawn... All of a sudden, this crazy fellow in a Halloween costume bursts out from in back of the house next door..."
"That's the McDougal's house..." Mrs. Pasternak calls from the kitchen.
"He doesn't need to know that!" Mr. Pasternak yells. He turns toward Powell. "That's not relevant to anything, is it?"
"Uh... I don't think so..." Powell says. "Um... What did Coyote Man do next?"
"'Coyote Man?' Is that what that fellow calls himself? Like from a comic book... Well... This 'Coyote Man' runs up to the LILCO truck and starts..."
"Actually, it's a LIPA truck now, dear," Mrs. Pasternak says as she steps into the room and hands Powell a cup. "The electric company changed its name a few years back."
"Now that doesn't matter!" Mr. Pasternak shakes his head. "This woman has no sense of narrative! She doesn't respect a good story!"
"It's important to get the details right, dear."
"But you're interrupting the thread! How'm I supposed to tell what I saw if you keep bursting in with your tedious commentary?"
"Accuracy counts dear. I refuse to concede on that point."
Mr. Pasternak turns to Powell. "You see what I put up with? Fifty six years I've been married to this woman, and in all that time, I don't think she's let me complete a single sentence!"
"Uh..." Powell glances out the window. "Maybe we should, uh, go outside and you can show me exactly where things happened..."
"Good idea." Mr. Pasternak stands up and turns toward his wife. "You stay in here." He leads Powell to the front door. "Be telling the tale till midnight tomorrow if we don't get away from that woman..."